Bhagavad Gita 11.2
Spoken by Arjuna · Verse 2 of 55 · Arjuna's Journey
भवाप्ययौ हि भूतानां श्रुतौ विस्तरशो मया | त्वत्तः कमलपत्राक्ष माहात्म्यमपि चाव्ययम् ||२||
bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṃ śrutau vistaraśo mayā | tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa māhātmyam api cāvyayam || 2 ||
I have heard in full from You the origin and dissolution of beings, and Your inexhaustible greatness.
Word by word (3)
- bhavāpyayau hi bhūtānāṃ śrutau vistaraśaḥ mayā
- — The origin and dissolution of beings have been heard in full from You · bhavāpyayau = origin and dissolution (bhava = arising, becoming, origin — from √bhū = to be; apyaya = dissolution, merger, disappearance — from apa + √i = to go away; bhavāpyayau = dual noun = 'the arising and the dissolution together' — the complete cycle of creation and destruction). hi = indeed (emphatic particle). bhūtānāṃ = of beings (genitive plural of bhūta = being, creature). śrutau = have been heard (dual past passive participle of √śru = to hear; śrutau = 'have been heard' — in agreement with bhavāpyayau, both 'have been heard'). vistaraśaḥ = in full/detail, extensively (vistara = breadth, extension, detail; vistaraśaḥ = 'in detailed breadth, at full length'). mayā = by me (instrumental of aham = I). 'The origin and dissolution of beings have indeed been heard in full by me from You.' Arjuna summarizes what he has received: bhavāpyayau (the full cosmic cycle — V10.32's sargāṇāṃ ādiḥ antaḥ madhyaṃ, V10.34's mṛtyuḥ and udbhavaḥ, V10.42's ekāṃśena sthito jagat). The complete creation-dissolution cycle is now known.
- tvattaḥ kamala-patrākṣa māhātmyam api ca avyayam
- — And also Your inexhaustible greatness, O lotus-eyed one · tvattaḥ = from You (ablative of tvaṃ = you; tvattaḥ = 'from You, from Your [teaching]'). kamala-patrākṣa = O lotus-eyed one (kamala = lotus; patra = leaf, petal; akṣa = eye; kamala-patrākṣa = 'O one whose eyes are [like] lotus petals' — a standard Viṣṇu epitheton; the lotus-petal eye = large, beautiful, serene, slightly elongated; this is the beauty-epithet used when Arjuna is expressing admiration and devotion before a major request). māhātmyam = greatness, magnificence (māhātmya = 'the quality of being great-souled' — from mahā = great + ātman = soul/self; māhātmya = 'great-souledness, magnificence, majesty, glory'). api = also, even. ca = and. avyayam = inexhaustible, imperishable (avyaya = 'not decaying, imperishable, inexhaustible' — from a = not + vyaya = expenditure/decay; avyayam = 'what cannot be used up, inexhaustible'). 'And also Your inexhaustible greatness.' The māhātmyam avyayam = the infinite greatness that V10.40 declared cannot be enumerated ('no end to My divine vibhūtis'). V11.2 = Arjuna confirms he has received both the specific teaching (bhavāpyayau = the cycle of creation/dissolution) and the comprehensive reality (māhātmyam avyayam = the inexhaustible greatness beyond all specifics). He is ready for the next level.
- [devotional epithet note]
- — Kamala-patrākṣa — the loving address before the request · The epithets Arjuna uses across V11.1-V11.4 chart his devotional state: V11.2's kamala-patrākṣa (lotus-eyed — beauty and serenity); V11.3's parameśvara (Supreme Lord — supreme authority) and puruṣottama (Supreme Person/Purāṇic title); V11.4's prabho (O Lord — sovereignty) and yogeśvara (Lord of Yogas — complete mastery). The sequence: beauty/serenity (V11.2) → supreme authority (V11.3) → sovereignty/mastery (V11.4). Arjuna addresses Krishna by increasingly powerful epithets as his request escalates from acknowledgment (V11.1) to confirmation (V11.2) to desire (V11.3) to request (V11.4). The epithet sequence mirrors the request's increasing boldness.
I have heard from You in full of the origin and dissolution of beings, O lotus-eyed one, and of Your inexhaustible greatness.
A modern analogy
This verse parallels the student who has studied astronomy extensively — read about the scale of the universe, the birth and death of stars, the expansion of spacetime — and then stands at a telescope for the first time and says: 'I've heard it all in full; now I want to see it.' The intellectual reception (vistaraśaḥ śruta = heard in full) is complete and real. But direct experience (darśana = vision) is a different order of knowing. Here, Arjuna is at that transition point: fully informed, not yet directly seen.
What it does NOT mean
This verse's śrutau vistaraśaḥ (heard in full) does not mean Arjuna now knows everything there is to know about the divine. The teaching has given him the intellectual framework (bhavāpyayau = the cosmic cycle; māhātmyam avyayam = the inexhaustible greatness). What he is about to request — to behold the Cosmic Ruler's form — is not more information but DIRECT VISION, a different order of knowing than śravaṇa (hearing). This verse's 'heard in full' sets up the request 'I want to SEE' — the distinction between knowing about and knowing directly.
Take with you
- This verse's bhavāpyayau (origin AND dissolution) as a completeness check: whenever studying a subject, ensure you have received BOTH poles — the origin (how it comes to be) and the dissolution (how it ends). True understanding holds both the birth and the death, the arising and the passing. Here Arjuna confirms he heard the full cycle, not just the pleasant creation-teaching.
- This verse's kamala-patrākṣa as a relational register: Arjuna uses the lotus-eye epithet (a devotional beauty-address) before making his confirmation and request. The relational register matters: how you address someone as you make a significant request signals your relationship with them. Practice this: before making an important request, take a moment to address the person (or the divine, or yourself) with the quality of your actual relationship — not transactional but relational.
- This verse's māhātmyam avyayam (inexhaustible greatness) as a boundary-recognition: whatever you have learned about any domain, recognize: the subject is māhātmyam avyayam — its greatness is inexhaustible. There is always more to learn, more depth to discover. This verse teaches intellectual humility not as self-diminishment but as accurate perception of the subject's actual depth.
Public-domain translations (3) compare all →
Of Thee, O lotus-eyed, I have heard at length, of the origin and dissolution of beings, as also Thy inexhaustible greatness. [4]
For I have heard at full length from thee, O thou whose eyes are like lotus leaves, the origin and dissolution of existing things, and also thy inexhaustible majesty. [6]
for now I know -- / O Lotus-eyed! -- whence is the birth of men, / And whence their death, and what the majesties / Of Thine immortal rule. [7]
This verse speaks to
Where this thread continues
There is no end to My divine vibhūtis, O scorcher of foes — what I have told you is but a sample of My infinite extent.
But why such detail, O Arjuna? With a single fragment of Myself I establish and uphold this entire universe.
Whoever does not turn the cosmic wheel of giving — living only for sense-pleasure — lives in vain.
I taught this imperishable yoga to the sun-god at the dawn of time — it has been passed down through kings ever since.
Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises — I project Myself forth. The divine responds to every crisis.
For the protection of the good, destruction of wickedness, establishment of dharma — I come, age after age.
Verse 2 of 55 · back to Chapter 11